The present invention relates generally to snow clearing implements such as snow shovels and the like, and more particularly to improved snow clearing apparatus which may be used as a snow pusher or plow and which is readily convertible for shoveling operations such as scooping, lifting and tossing snow.
Clearing and removing snow manually from walkways and driveways is typically a demanding, time-consuming, and laborious task. This is particularly true when the snow is wet and heavy since considerable effort may be required to lift a snow-ladened shovel full of wet snow and toss it to the side. It is often easier to clear an area by using a snow shovel as a snow pusher or plow to push the snow off to the side. In this case, the user typically pushes the shovel along the ground while walking and holding the shovel, generally with both hands, by the hand grip attached to the end of the handle. As the volume of snow in front of the blade increases, the shovel becomes more difficult to push, and this technique is satisfactory as long as the user is able to exert sufficient leverage through the handle to move the blade across the ground. Although pushing snow is generally easier than lifting and tossing it, the time required to clear a given area by pushing may not be substantially different from shoveling. Usually, in pushing, snow spills past the sides of the blade into an already cleared area, necessitating another pass over the cleared area to remove the spill-over.
Many different types of snow shovels and snow pushers are known. These include shovels, in addition to a conventional straight-handle shovel, having a bent handle to ease back strain or having an auxiliary handle connected to a main handle to reduce the effort required to lift the shovel when it is full of snow, and include different types of snow pushers. Most known snow pushers are not very efficient and usually are somewhat limited in their capabilities. While shovels may be used as snow pushers, they are generally not optimum for this purpose, and a device which is designed to be a snow pusher is generally not well suited for shoveling involving lifting and tossing of snow. Also, a person owning a snow pusher usually must also have a snow shovel since there are many areas where a pusher may be unsatisfactory. Likewise, a snow shovel owner may wish to have a separate snow pusher. Thus, in each case it may be necessary to have two separate devices. This is disadvantageous.
Despite the plethora of different types of snow clearing implements, present devices still have well-known limitations, such as pointed out above. There is a need for improved snow clearing apparatus which overcomes these limitations and which eases the burden and time required to clear snow. The present invention is directed to these ends.